Cinder's Carnival
by Avril Lambert
Summary: After their father dies, Cinderella and Phoebus' stepmother can no longer afford to take care of them. She sells Phoebus to a king who uses him as guard to keep his slaves in line. With Phoebus gone Cinderella no longer has any reason to stay with her stepmother. But after she runs away, she's kidnapped by the leader of a traveling carnival and becomes part of the freak exhibit.


Cinderella lied in bed listening to the rain hitting the roof above her. There was one small window in the attic bedroom; the rain poured down the window, casting shadows of raindrops on the floor where her older brother, Phoebus, was sleeping. Their mother died giving birth to Cinderella. A couple years later their father remarried. Then, fifteen years ago, when Cinderella was five and Phoebus seven, their father died, leaving them with their stepmother. She was not happy about being stuck with them and treated them more like servants. She even made them share a small bedroom in the attic. For fifteen years now Cinderella and Phoebus have worked as servants for their stepmother and stepsisters in the house that had once belonged to their family.

A flash of lightning briefly lit up their room and was shortly followed by a loud clap of thunder. Phoebus stirred and woke up. He stood up, pulled on his pants and lit the lantern sitting on the small table beside the bed.

"I knew you'd be awake," Phoebus said, looking down at Cinderella. "You never sleep during storms."

Cinderella rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her hand. "I like listening to it."

Phoebus leaned against the wall. "Dad was the same way."

Cinderella's hand instinctively went up to the locket around her neck. Inside the small silver locket was a picture of their father from just before he died. He had only been a couple years older than Phoebus is now. Phoebus looked so much like their father that sometimes their stepmother couldn't even look at him. Cinderella, however, didn't remember much about their father- except for what Phoebus told her.

"Why do we stay here?" Cinderella asked, quietly. It wasn't the first time she asked her brother the same question.

And Phoebus always gave her the same answer, "This is our home."

Cinderella rolled over onto her back, but didn't say anything.

"Besides," Phoebus continued, "where would we go? We don't know of any other relatives and we don't have any money."

Cinderella sighed. "I suppose you're right."

"It's not so bad here," Phoebus said.

"But, is it enough?" Cinderella retorted. Anther clap of thunder slightly rattled the old house. "You're twenty-two years old, Phoebus; don't you want to get married and start a family?"

Phoebus chuckled and shook his head as he pushed off the wall. "_You're _my only family, Cinderella."

O~O~O

The next morning, Cinderella began her daily chore of scrubbing the floors. Meanwhile, Phoebus had to replace the glass in yet another mirror that their oldest stepsister, Drizella, had broken. Drizella had a short temper, especially when it came to the servants, and was constantly breaking things out of anger and then making Phoebus fix them.

Cinderella was just starting to scrub the entryway floor when the front door burst open. Four men, all dressed in matching uniforms, barged inside. Cinderella quickly moved out of their way as they stormed upstairs. One of the older female servants, Carlotta, was just coming down the stairs and was forced to press herself against the railing to make room for the men.

"Good heavens!" Carlotta gasped. "Who are _they_?"

"I have no idea," Cinderella replied.

"We should alert mistress Tremaine," Carlotta said.

"That won't be necessary." Lady Tremaine stepped inside the front door. "They're here under orders."

Before either Cinderella or Carlotta couldn't ask any further questions, the sound shattering glass filled the house. It was immediately followed by quick footsteps and a struggle.

"What's happening?" Cinderella asked, not taking her eyes off the stairs.

"Your father's fortune is dwindling," Lady Tremaine stated. "I can no longer afford both of you." It was then that the men appeared at the top of the stairs, dragging Phoebus along with them. "I had no choice but to sell your brother to the king in the southern kingdom."

"No!" Cinderella cried out. "You can't do that!"

Phoebus fought against the men as they dragged him out the front door.

"As it turns out, I can," Lady Tremaine said.

"Phoebus!" Cinderella tried to go after her brother, but Lady Tremaine grabbed her and held her back. "Let me go!" Cinderella turned and shoved her stepmother away from her. Lady Tremaine lost her footing on the wet floor and fell.

Cinderella ran after her brother. Two men were holding his arms, while one man was preparing the carriage and the other was shackling Phoebus' feet. Cinderella flung her arms around her older brother. One of the men tried to pull Cinderella away from him, but she just clung to him more tightly.

Phoebus leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "I'll come back for you. I promise."

Suddenly Cinderella was seized by the hair and yanked off Phoebus. She cried out in pain and saw her stepmother was the one who had grabbed her.

"You earned yourself a sound lashing, girl!" Lady Treamine snarled.

"Unhand her!" Phoebus demanded.

The men shoved Phoebus inside the carriage and immediately pulled away. Cinderella fought against her stepmother, but her grip was firm and she couldn't get away.

"How could you?" Cinderella whimpered, trying not to cry.

As the carriage drove away, Cinderella realized it was raining and she couldn't help thinking how fitting the weather was. Still holding Cinderella by the hair, Lady Tremaine dragged Cinderella around to the back of the house. There she had a tall plank of wood stuck in the ground with leather straps attached to it. Lady Tremaine forced Cinderella to her knees so she was facing the wood and tied the straps around her wrists. She then ripped open the back of Cinderella's dress and grabbed a stick from the pile near the plank.

Cinderella closed her eyes and braced herself for impact. She heard the faint _whoosh_ as her stepmother swung the stick and a second later the stick hit her wet skin. Cinderella gritted her teeth to keep from crying out and gripped the sides of the wood, giving herself splinters. Lady Tremaine hit her over and over until tears mixed with the raindrops streaming down Cinderella's cheeks.


End file.
